Insurance World

The Financial Services Authority has recently carried out a review of the way in which information and advice is given to retail customers purchasing financial products. One of the products which they considered was the sale of Critical Illness Cover.

Critical Illness Cover is often taken out by people taking out a mortgage, usually as part of a term assurance policy. It may also be purchased as a stand-alone product. The policy will pay out a lump sum if the borrower becomes seriously ill with one of a list of specified illnesses, commonly cancer, heart conditions, stroke etc.; this will help with loss of earnings due to the illness and general life-style changes which may be the result of the illness.

Firms selling critical illness cover are required to comply with certain standards and although these are being met reasonably well, the survey showed that there could be some improvement in the way in which they could help the customer to gain a better understanding of the product.

The FSA have visited firms and employed mystery shoppers to look specifically at how compliancy is working out with regards to sales processes when selling critical illness cover.

Supervision visits were paid to 42 firms. Whilst in the main these were financial and mortgage advisers, they also included banks, building societies and insurers. The market research company, Research International, carried out 80 mystery shops to 51 firms in total, to report on what actually occurs.

Director of Retail Firms, Sarah Wilson, has said that whilst many of the findings were positive, a few problems had been identified. Initiatives have been launched in order to deal with them. The fair treatment of customers is of prime importance, especially with regard to making policy application forms and documents more easily understood. So far these changes seem to be helpful.

Critical illness cover is, however, complex and some of the problems cropped up in the context of the financial promotion of the schemes and general insurance documentation. Customers sometimes have difficulty in comprehending exactly what they are being sold. Therefore it is difficult for them to assess whether this is the correct cover for them, or whether a payment of income protection product would be more suitable.

The needs of the customer have to be taken into account and there should be a careful assessment of the type of protection which they need. However, where there were two or more types of policy, the cost was sometimes the only aspect taken into account when recommending the most suitable one. Other factors may have been left out of the equation, such as conditions covered or whether there were other products more suited to a particular client’s requirements.

Miss-selling is a risk, but most firms had taken reasonable measures to manage this. There were found to be good training programmes and risk based monitoring.

As is the case with prime mortgage payment products, customers have time to consider their options before they make the decision to purchase the cover.

The results of the survey offer some reassurance that the needs of the customer are being protected and any changes to be implemented can only offer change for the better.

Insurance, as we all know is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of potential financial loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a potential loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for a premium and duty of care.

When we think of taking insurance what immediately strikes our mind are the life insurances. Families often consider life insurance as necessary as a sound roof when it comes to protecting them from the harsh winds of fate, especially when children are small. Primary bread earners want assurance that even if worst things happen, the house will be paid for and the youngsters can continue to go to college.

But there are many worst things which can happen within one’s life period like a disability that could knock the family provider out of the workplace. While industry studies show that workers are three to five times more likely to be disabled than die early, disability insurance is often neglected.What is the point of having a life insurance if you are disabled? While premature death tends to have a bigger emotional impact, disability can be equally, if not more, devastating to a family’s financial stability.

Disability can be long term or short term and can be broken down into a number of broad sub categories.
•Physical impairments affecting movement.
•Lack of amputation of limbs or other body parts.
•Sensory impairments, such as visual or hearing impairments
•Neurological impairments.
•Cognitive impairments.
•Psychiatric conditions

The often heard “It won’t happen to me” has become a joke as daily someone or the other living in this world is diagnosed with some kind of a disease or other. For example Diabetics is one such kind of a disease that is common among youngsters today. Shocking to hear!!! But true facts are sometimes difficult to accept. With such a situation in hand, there is a high demand not only for life insurances but also disability insurances.

Disability insurances are of two types;
•Long Term Disability (LTD)
•Short Term Disability(STD)

Based on the type of disability, there are various different policies to suit you need and requirement.

•Short-Term Disability policies (STD) have a waiting period of 0 to 14 days with a maximum benefit period of no longer than two years.
•Long-Term Disability policies (LTD) have a waiting period of several weeks to several months with a maximum benefit period ranging from a few years to the rest of your life.

Disability policies have two different protection features that are important to understand.

1.Noncancelable means the policy cannot be canceled by the insurance company, except for nonpayment of premiums. This gives you the right to renew the policy every year without an increase in the premium or a reduction in benefits.

2.Guaranteed renewable gives you the right to renew the policy with the same benefits and not have the policy canceled by the company. However, your insurer has the right to increase your premiums as long as it does so for all other policyholders in the same rating class as you.

In addition to the traditional disability policies, there are several options you should consider when purchasing a policy:

Additional purchase options
Your insurance company gives you the right to buy additional insurance at a later time.
Coordination of benefits
The amount of benefits you receive from your insurance company is dependent on other benefits you receive because of your disability. Your policy specifies a target amount you will receive from all the policies combined, so this policy will make up the difference not paid by other policies.
Cost of living adjustment (COLA)
The COLA increases your disability benefits over time based on the increased cost of living measured by the Consumer Price Index. You will pay a higher premium if you select the COLA.
Residual or partial disability rider
This provision allows you to return to work part-time, collect part of your salary and receive a partial disability payment if you are still partially disabled.
Return of premium
This provision requires the insurance company to refund part of your premium if no claims are made for a specific period of time declared in the policy.
Waiver of premium provision
This clause means that you do not have to pay premiums on the policy after you’re disabled for 90 days.

If you decide to buy a private disability insurance policy, remember that policies are legal contracts. Read and compare the policies and understand the provisions before you sign. In comparing policies, you might want to consider:

•Is disability defined as your inability to perform your own job or any job?
•Does the policy cover accidents and illness?
•Are benefits paid for partial or recurring disabilities?
•Are full benefits paid after loss of sight, speech, hearing or use of limbs?
•Is the policy no cancelable, guaranteed renewable or conditionally renewable?
•How long must the worker be disabled before premiums are waived?
•Is there an option to buy additional coverage, without evidence of medical insurability, at a later date?
•Does the policy offer an inflation adjustment

There are many disability insurance companies and agents all around the world to offer their services .Based on one’s necessities, he or she can choose the best disability insurance to suit their needs.